Jaipur s marketing strategies are taking a new turn with virtual reality being used as the latest tool to showcase the products in areas like real estate, hotels, restaurants, and copper plants too. Not only this, virtual reality is being used for tourism purposes as well.

With virtual reality in hand, the prospective buyers can take a virtual tour of the site or building without taking the pains to go to the actual place.

“I send my marketing personnel to the client with the VR gadget. The client, then, goes through the catalogue of six types of flats that I am offering. The virtual tour takes them through a furnished flat in accordance with their choice of wall colours and other placements. This has helped me increase my sales,” said Prashant Sharma, director, Lavanya. The customer attaches a phone to the VR gadget and then wears the gadget over his head. He can then move around and take a 360 degree tour of the place. There is a 3D map of the entire flat or plant near the feet so when he looks down he can pick the area he wants to explore. This helps in catering national as well as international clients.

“I have some clients in Saudi Arabia and some in Kerala, and it is not possible for them to visit the site in Jaipur before placing the order. Virtual reality helps me make them aware of the quality of product that I am selling and makes them take better decisions,” said Piyush Sharma, marketing head of Shera Energy private ltd. Shera energy produces copper, aluminium and brass products.

Not only this, even hotels and restaurants in Jaipur are exploring virtual reality as a medium of marketing. The customers can view the different kinds of rooms offered by the hotel and can also view the eatery dishes available at the restaurant.

“The idea came in when once, after going to a restaurant, the dish that we ordered wasn t the kind that we were expecting. We couldn t order further because we weren t able to analyse how the dish would look. So we thought people would want to try things after they see what they will be receiving,” said Aditya, founder, The Orion Hotel.

Artificial intelligence and augmented reality is being clubbed with virtual reality to make it better. “In order to achieve the higher quality VR application, the amalgamation of artificial intelligence algorithm and machine natural language techniques is going to be the next big thing in VR. Providing training systems using VR simulation techniques offers a cost-effective alternative to traditional training methods,” said Deepak Sharma, chief technology officer, Rams Technology Private Ltd, which is a Jaipur-based technology company that works on virtual reality and augmented reality. “With much fame cropped up around 360 degree Virtual tours, VR technology evidences a constant maturing and amplification of its potential to unleash a realm of possibilities in multifold sectors,” said Ankush Sharma, CEO, Rams technology.